This invention relates to a closed system for collecting and measuring the volume of urine output of patients and, more particularly, to a system which provides improved metering and structural rigidity.
Urine metering and collection systems are a valuable medical tool and are commonly used for medical examination and diagnosis. It is common to employ a urinary drainage tube to connect a catheter to a collection bag or a metering device. Many existing devices do not provide sufficiently accurate measurement of urinary volume, especially when the volume output is small. To overcome this problem metering devices have been designed with two chambers of different diameters, the smaller diameter chamber providing relatively good accuracy for small volume measurement and the larger diameter chamber providing relatively accurate measurement for large volume output. However, because of the change in diameter accurate measurements cannot be made in the transition zone.
Another problem with many prior art urine collection systems is that they employ a large volume collection bag as a separate element with respect to a metering chamber and are interconnected with the chamber by means of a flexible tube. Such a structure has been found cumbersome to use and transport when filled and is subject to accidental separation.
In addition to overcoming the above described disadvantages with present day urine collection systems, it is also desirable to provide a metering and collection system which enables the sampling of urine directly from the metering chamber.
Accordingly, it is an objective of this invention to provide a closed, combined urine collection and metering system of improved structural rigidity and which provides relatively accurate metering of small and large volumes with a smooth transistion between the small and large portions of the metering chamber.
It is another objective of this invention to provide an improved urine collection and metering system which is relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture and use and which functions as a closed system collection bag when accurate metering of urine output is not required.
Additional objectives and advantages of this invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and advantages of this invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.